Friday, August 12, 2016

Fallout shorebirds from the tropical disturbance

The winds from the tropical disturbance that has been affecting us the last few days may not have been strong enough to push many birds around, but the rains of such a system often produce a different sort of birding opportunity: water birds that would normally migrate past without pausing are often induced to stop over until the weather passes.
This afternoon, while waiting in the carpool line at Patrick Taylor Academy in Avondale, I noticed some movement in the flooded grassy fields behind the building. Yanking the binoculars out of my glove box-where I keep a pair for such emergencies- I was able to pick out a half dozen Pectoral Sandpipers, a Black-bellied Plover, and a couple Lesser Yellowlegs! These were passage migrants; they were accompanied by four Black-necked Stilts, as many Killdeer, and a small flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, all most likely local residents attracted by the rain pools. Never before have I been eager for the carpool line to move as slowly as possible!

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